Man Told He Has Cancer- But You Will Never Believe What They Found Instead

Doctor’s initially feared that 50 year old Paul Baxter, a father of two, had what appeared to be a cancerous tumor in his lungs. But you will never believe what they found when they opened him up on the operating table.

Instead of finding a tumor as expected, they instead found a tiny traffic cone, part of a police traffic set he had been given for his seventh birthday. Paul has no recollection of swallowing the cone so many years ago.

“Kids eat things and I obviously chewed on my toys, but I can’t even remember swallowing it to be honest,’ he said.

I have been told that I must have inhaled it for it to go into my windpipe. If I had swallowed it, it would have gone into my stomach and out the other end.

The operation was under local anaesthetic, and when they removed the cone in the theatre it was hilarious – everyone in the room just laughed.

It has come out in perfect working order, you can even still see the markings.”

Although the operation occurred in 2015, one has to wonder how he could have gone so long – a full 40 years – without experiencing any symptoms. Apparently experts believe that it was because he was so young when he inhaled it and that as he grew older his airways adapted to the cone by growing around it.

Dr. Mohammed Munavvar stated it was ‘a full on surprise’ when he and his team found the cone. Paul now has the cone and is keeping it as a souvenir.

As written in BMJ’s Case Reports:

“He finally found his long lost traffic cone in the very last place he would look. To our knowledge this is the first reported case of a tracheobronchial foreign body that was overlooked for 40 years.”

Were you surprised at what they found in his lung?

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